Heterogeneous proppant placement in a fracture with removable channelant fill

ABSTRACT

A method of heterogeneous proppant placement in a subterranean fracture is disclosed. The method comprises injecting well treatment fluid including proppant ( 16 ) wherein the proppant comprises from  1  to  100  percent in weight of stiff, low-elasticity and low-deformability elongated particles ( 34 ) and proppant-spacing filler material called a channelant ( 18 ) through a wellbore ( 10 ) into the fracture ( 20 ), heterogeneously placing the proppant in the fracture in a plurality of proppant clusters or islands ( 22 ) spaced apart by the channelant ( 24 ), and removing the channelant filler material ( 24 ) to form open channels ( 26 ) around the pillars ( 28 ) for fluid flow from the formation ( 14 ) through the fracture ( 20 ) toward the wellbore ( 10 ). The proppant and channelant can be segregated within the well treatment fluid, or segregated during placement in the fracture. The channelant can be dissolvable particles, initially acting as a filler material during placement of the proppant in the fracture, and later dissolving to leave the flow channels between the proppant pillars. The well treatment fluid can include fibers to provide reinforcement and consolidation of the proppant and, additionally or alternatively, to inhibit settling of the proppant in the treatment fluid.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation-in-part application of application Ser. No. 12/507,558, entitled “HETEROGENEOUS PROPPANT PLACEMENT IN A FRACTURE WITH REMOVABLE CHANNELANT FILL” filed on Jul. 22, 2009, which is a divisional application of application Ser. No. 11/608,686, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,581,590, entitled “HETEROGENEOUS PROPPANT PLACEMENT IN A FRACTURE WITH REMOVABLE CHANNELANT FILL” filed on Dec. 8, 2006 and is a continuation-in-part application of application Ser. No. 11/768,393, entitled “PROPPANT MATERIAL AND FORMATION HYDRAULIC FRACTURING METHOD” filed on Jun. 26, 2007, which are all hereby in their entirety incorporated by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to stimulation of wells penetrating subterranean formations, to fracture stimulation by injection of proppant into a fracture to form regions of low resistance to flow through the fracture for the production of hydrocarbons and in some cases by using non-spherical proppant.

BACKGROUND

Various methods are known for fracturing a subterranean formation to enhance the production of fluids therefrom. In the typical application, a pressurized fracturing fluid hydraulically creates and propagates a fracture. The fracturing fluid carries proppant particulates into the extending fracture. When the fracturing fluid is removed, the fracture does not completely close from the loss of hydraulic pressure; instead, the fracture remains propped open by the packed proppant, allowing fluids to flow from the formation through the proppant pack to the production wellbore.

The success of the fracturing treatment may depend on the ability of fluids to flow from the formation through the proppant pack. In other words, the proppant pack or matrix must have a high permeability relative to the formation for fluid to flow with low resistance to the wellbore. Furthermore, the surface regions of the fracture should not be significantly damaged by the fracturing to retain fluid permeability for optimal flow from the formation into the fracture and the proppant pack.

The prior art has sought to increase the permeability of the proppant pack by increasing the porosity of the interstitial channels between adjacent proppant particles within the proppant matrix. For example, US200600408944A1 (van Batenburg, et al.) incorporated herewith by reference discloses a method of forming a high porosity propped fracture with a slurry that includes a fracturing fluid, proppant particulates and a weighting agent. These prior art technologies seek to distribute the porosity and interstitial flow passages as uniformly as possible in the consolidated proppant matrix filling the fracture, and thus employ homogeneous proppant placement procedures to substantially uniformly distribute the proppant and non-proppant, porosity-inducing materials within the fracture.

As another example, in US20060048943A1 (Parker, et al.) incorporated herewith by reference proppant particulates and degradable material do not segregate before, during or after injection to help maintain uniformity within the proppant matrix. Fracturing fluids are thoroughly mixed to prevent any segregation of proppant and non-proppant particulates. In another approach, non-proppant materials have a size, shape and specific gravity similar to that of the proppant to maintain substantial uniformity within the mixture of particles in the fracturing fluid and within the resulting proppant pack. A tackifying compound coating on the particulates has also been used to enhance the homogenous distribution of proppant and non-proppant particulates as they are blended and pumped downhole into a fracture.

A recent approach to improving hydraulic fracture conductivity has been to try to construct proppant clusters in the fracture, as opposed to constructing a continuous proppant pack. U.S. Pat. No. 6,776,235 (England) incorporated herewith by reference discloses a method for hydraulically fracturing a subterranean formation involving alternating stages of proppant-containing hydraulic fracturing fluids contrasting in their proppant-settling rates to form proppant clusters as posts that prevent fracture closing. This method alternates the stages of proppant-laden and proppant-free fracturing fluids to create proppant clusters, or islands, in the fracture and channels between them for formation fluids to flow. The amount of proppant deposited in the fracture during each stage is modulated by varying the fluid transport characteristics (such as viscosity and elasticity), the proppant densities, diameters, and concentrations and the fracturing fluid injection rate. However, the positioning of the proppant-containing fluid is difficult to control. For example, the proppant-containing fluid can have a higher density than the proppant-free fluid and can thus underride the proppant-free fluid. This underride can result in non-uniform distribution of proppant clusters, which in turn can lead to excessive fracture closure where there is not enough proppant and constricted flow channels where there is too much proppant.

On the other way, many materials have been included in proppant packs to enhance the conductivity. U.S. Pat. No. 5,330,005 incorporated herewith by reference disclosed adding fibers made for example of glass, ceramic, carbon, natural or synthetic polymers or metal. They have a length of up to about 30 mm and a diameter of between 6 and 100 microns. According to U.S. Pat. No. 5,908,073 incorporated herewith by reference flowback is prevented through the use of fibrous bundles, made of from about 5 to about 200 individual fibers having lengths in the range of about 0.8 to about 2.5 mm and diameters in the range of about 10 to about 1000 microns. U.S. Pat. No. 6,059,034 incorporated herewith by reference disclosed blending proppant material with a deformable particulate material such as polystyrene divinylbenzene beads. They define deformable materials as having a Young's modulus between about 0.00345 and about 13.8 GPa. The deformable particles may have different shapes such as oval, cubic, bar-shaped, cylindrical, multi-faceted, irregular, and tapered, but they preferably have a maximum length-based aspect ratio equal to or less than 5, and are typically spherical plastic beads or composite particles comprising a non-deformable core and a deformable coating. U.S. Pat. No. 6,330,916 incorporated herewith by reference also describes the use of deformable materials having a maximum length-based aspect ratio of equal to or less than about 25 and a Young's modulus of between about 500 psi (about 0.0034 GPa) and about 2,000,000 psi (about 13.79 GPa) under formation conditions. U.S. Pat. No. 6,725,930 incorporated herewith by reference describes the use of metallic wires having an aspect ratio of greater than 5 and making use of the properties of the metals.

More recently approach was made to increase proppant pack conductivity by using non-spherical proppant. International application WO 2009/088317 incorporated herewith by reference discloses a method of fracturing with a slurry of proppant containing from 1 to 100 percent of stiff, low elasticity, low deformability elongated particles. US patent application 2007/768393 incorporated herewith by reference discloses proppant that is in the form of generally rigid, elastic plate-like particles having a maximum to minimum dimension ratio of more than about 5, the proppant being at least one of formed from a corrosion resistant material or having a corrosion resistant material formed thereon.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a new type of proppant and improved methods of propping a fracture, or a part of a fracture.

SUMMARY

According some embodiments, a fracturing treatment includes the injection of both proppant and a removable material that can act as fill to physically separate the proppant clusters at appropriate distances during placement in the fracture, but can subsequently be removed to form channels. The proppant comprises from 1 to 100 percent in weight of stiff, low-elasticity and low-deformability elongated particles. The proppant and removable material are disposed within a fracture in such a way that the removable material is segregated from the proppant to act as a temporary filler material compressed in the fracture in spaces between clusters or islands of proppant which form pillars to hold open the fracture. Then, the fill material is removed to form open channels for unimpeded fluid flow through the fracture in the spaces left around the proppant pillars. Applicant refers herein to the removable, channel-forming fill material as “channelant.”

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 schematically illustrates in section placement of proppant and removable channelant in a hydraulic fracture operation according to an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 2 schematically illustrates in section the arrangement of the wellbore, perforations and the proppant pillars in the fracture following removal of the channelant from the fracture of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 schematically illustrates the wall effect introduced by use of elongated particles.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

At the outset, it should be noted that in the development of any such actual embodiment, numerous implementation-specific decisions must be made to achieve the developer's specific goals, such as compliance with system related and business related constraints, which will vary from one implementation to another. Moreover, it will be appreciated that such a development effort might be complex and time consuming but would nevertheless be a routine undertaking for those of ordinary skill in the art having the benefit of this disclosure.

The description and examples are presented solely for the purpose of illustrating the preferred embodiments of the invention and should not be construed as a limitation to the scope and applicability of the invention. While the compositions of the present invention are described herein as comprising certain materials, it should be understood that the composition could optionally comprise two or more chemically different materials. In addition, the composition can also comprise some components other than the ones already cited. In the summary of the invention and this detailed description, each numerical value should be read once as modified by the term “about” (unless already expressly so modified), and then read again as not so modified unless otherwise indicated in context. Also, in the summary and this detailed description, it should be understood that a concentration range listed or described as being useful, suitable, or the like, is intended that any and every concentration within the range, including the end points, is to be considered as having been stated. For example, “a range of from 1 to 10” is to be read as indicating each and every possible number along the continuum between about 1 and about 10. Thus, even if specific data points within the range, or even no data points within the range, are explicitly identified or refer to only a few specific, it is to be understood that inventors appreciate and understand that any and all data points within the range are to be considered to have been specified, and that inventors possession of the entire range and all points within the range.

Fracturing fluids according to the present method can include proppant and a removable proppant-spacing material, which can function to form open channels around the proppant pillars. These extramatrical channel-forming materials, including proppant-spacing particles, are referred to herein as “channelant.”

As used herein, the term “open channels” refers to interconnected passageways formed in the proppant-fracture structure. Open channels are distinct from interstitial passages between individual proppant particles in the proppant matrix in that the channels fully extend between opposing fracture faces, free of obstruction by proppant or other flow-impeding structures, and exist outside the proppant matrix, laterally bounded by the proppant pillars. Such open channels generally have a hydraulic radius, and hence a hydraulic conductivity, that is at least an order of magnitude larger than that of interstitial flow passages through the proppant matrix.

The open channels can be formed by placing the proppant and channelant in the fracture in such a way that the pillar-forming proppant islands are ultimately segregated from the channel-forming removable material. The segregation can occur or begin in the preparation, mixing or pumping of the treatment fluid, in the injection of the treatment fluid in the fracture, in or after the proppant placement, packing or settling in the fracture, by a distinct post-injection step of chemical and/or mechanical manipulation or treatment of the proppant/channelant following initial placement in the fracture, or by aggregating and consolidating the proppant during the channelant removal.

As used herein, the terms “segregation,” “segregating” and the like refer to any heterogeneous proppant/channelant distribution between proppant-rich pillar-forming islands or regions and proppant-lean channelant regions. It may not be necessary to keep the proppant-rich regions entirely free of channelant because the presence of channelant, especially in relatively minor amounts, may not exceed any level that prevents the formation or consolidation of the proppant into pillars of sufficient strength to prevent the fracture from closing. In an embodiment, the channelant can function in the proppant or proppant regions to consolidate or reinforce the proppant islands and/or to strengthen the proppant pillars. Conversely, the channelant regions can contain proppant particles, especially relatively minor amounts, which remain unconsolidated or do not otherwise prevent removal of the channelant to form the open channels and which do not result in obstruction or excessive clogging of the open channels by the proppant.

A simplified embodiment of the method is illustrated with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2, in which the channelant particles can be generally insoluble in the injection fluid and soluble in the formation fluid. In FIG. 1, a wellbore 10 can be completed with perforations 12 in formation 14. Segregated proppant particles 16 and channelant particles 18 can be injected in a fracturing fluid through the wellbore 10 into a fracture 20, where they can be heterogeneously placed in respective proppant-rich islands 22 spaced apart by channelant-rich regions 24. The fracture 20 can be allowed to close, and the proppant blend islands 22 compressed to form pillars to support the fracture 20 and prevent the opposing fracture faces from contacting each other. Simultaneously, the channelant can be packed in the proppant-lean regions 24 and can help restrict the islands 22 from creeping or spreading laterally due to compression by the weight of the formation, thereby facilitating a greater height or open dimension of the resulting propped fracture and a greater hydraulic conductivity.

During the next operative step, the channelant can be removed in various embodiments by flushing, dissolving, softening, melting, breaking, or degrading the channelant, wholly or partially, via a suitable activation mechanism, such as, but not limited to, temperature, time, pH, salinity, solvent introduction, catalyst introduction, hydrolysis, and the like, or any combination thereof. The activation mechanism can be triggered by ambient conditions in the formation, by the invasion of formation fluids, exposure to water, passage of time, by the presence of incipient or delayed reactants in or mixed with the channelant particles, by the post-injection introduction of an activating fluid, or the like, or any combination of these triggers.

Then, with reference to FIG. 2, the formation fluid can be allowed to invade the fracture 20 to displace any channelant, channelant solution, channelant degradation products, and any unconsolidated proppant or other particles, from the proppant-lean regions. In one embodiment, the channelant can simply be unconsolidated so that it can be removed hydraulically, or can include unconsolidated particles that can be removed hydraulically, e.g. by flushing the fracture with formation fluid and/or an injected flushing or back-flushing fluid. A network of interconnected open channels 26 can thus be formed around the pillars 28 to provide the fracture 20 with high conductivity for fluid flow. Fluids can now be produced from the formation 14, into the fracture 20, through the open channels 26 and perforations 12, and into the wellbore 10.

The channelant can be removed mechanically, for example by using fluid to push channelant out of the formation. In such instances, the channelant can remain in a solid state from the time of injection through removal from the fracture. Some suitable materials that can resist degradation and crushing include glass, ceramics, carbon and carbon-based compounds, metals and metallic alloys, and high-density plastics that are oil-resistant and exhibit a crystallinity of greater than about 10%. Some other suitable high density plastic materials include nylons, acrylics, styrenes, polyesters, polyethylenes, oil-resistant thermoset resins and combinations thereof.

Alternatively, the channelant can be softened, dissolved, reacted or otherwise made to degrade. Materials suitable for dissolvable channelant include for example, and without limitation, polyvinyl alcohol (PVOH) fibers, salt, wax, calcium carbonate, and the like and combinations thereof. An oil-degradable channelant can be selected, so that it will be degraded by produced fluids. Alternatively, a channelant can be selected which is degraded by agents purposefully placed in the formation by injection, wherein mixing the channelant with the agent induces a delayed reaction degradation of the channelant.

In some fracturing operations, a solid acid-precursor can be used as the degradable channelant. Suitable acid-generating dissolvable channelants can include for example, and without limitation, PLA, PGA, carboxylic acid, lactide, glycolide, copolymers of PLA or PGA, and the like and combinations thereof. Provided that the formation rock is carbonate, dolomite, sandstone, or otherwise acid reactive, then the hydrolyzed product of the channelant, a reactive liquid acid, can etch the formation at surfaces exposed between the proppant pillars. This etching can enlarge the open channels and thus further enhance the conductivity between the pillars. Other uses of the generated acid fluid can include aiding in the breaking of residual gel, facilitating consolidation of proppant clusters, curing or softening resin coatings and increasing proppant permeability.

In some embodiments, the channelant may be formed of, or contain, a fluoride source capable of generating hydrofluoric acid upon release of fluorine and adequate protonation. Some nonlimiting examples of fluoride sources which are effective for generating hydrofluoric acid include fluoboric acid, ammonium fluoride, ammonium fluoride, and the like, or any mixtures thereof.

During hydraulic fracturing, high pressure pumps on the surface inject the fracturing fluid into a wellbore adjacent to the face or pay zone of a geologic formation. The first stage, also referred to as the “pad stage” involves injecting a fracturing fluid into a borehole at a sufficiently high flow rate and pressure sufficient to literally break or fracture a portion of surrounding strata at the sand face. The pad stage is pumped until the fracture has sufficient dimensions to accommodate the subsequent slurry pumped in the proppant stage. The volume of the pad can be designed by those knowledgeable in the art of fracture design, for example, as described in Reservoir Stimulation, 3rd Ed., M. J. Economides, K. G. Nolte, Editors, John Wiley and Sons, New York, 2000, incorporated herewith by reference.

Water-based fracturing fluids are common, with natural or synthetic water-soluble polymers optionally added to increase fluid viscosity, and can be used throughout the pad and subsequent proppant and/or channelant stages. These polymers include, but are not limited to, guar gums; high-molecular-weight polysaccharides composed of mannose and galactose sugars; or guar derivatives, such as hydroxypropyl guar, carboxymethyl guar, carboxymethylhydroxypropyl guar, and the like. Cross-linking agents based on boron, titanium, zirconium or aluminum complexes are typically used to increase the effective molecular weight of the polymer for use in high-temperature wells. To a small extent, cellulose derivatives, such as hydroxyethylcellulose or hydroxypropylcellulose and carboxymethylhydroxyethylcellulose, are used with or without cross-linkers. Two biopolymers—xanthan and scleroglucan—provide excellent proppant suspension, but are more expensive than guar derivatives and so are used less frequently. Polyacrylamide and polyacrylate polymers and copolymers are typically used for high-temperature applications or as friction reducers at low concentrations for all temperatures ranges. Polymer-free, water-base fracturing fluids can also be obtained using viscoelastic surfactants. Usually, these fluids are prepared by mixing in appropriate amounts of suitable surfactants, such as anionic, cationic, nonionic, amphoteric, and zwiterionic. The viscosity of viscoelastic surfactant fluids are attributed to the three-dimensional structure formed by the fluid's components. When the surfactant concentration in a viscoelastic fluid significantly exceeds a critical concentration, and in most cases in the presence of an electrolyte, surfactant molecules aggregate into species, such as worm-like or rod-like micelles, which can interact to form a network exhibiting viscous and elastic behavior.

After the fracture is induced, proppant and channelant can be injected into the fracture as a slurry or suspension of particles in the fracturing fluid during what is referred to herein as the “proppant stage.” In the proppant stage, proppant and channelant can be injected in one or more segregated substages alternated between a “proppant substage” and a “channelant substage,” and/or as a mixture of channelant and proppant in one or more substages referred to herein as a “mixed substage.” Further, the proppant, channelant and/or mixed substages can be separated by one or more optional “carrier substages”, which are substantially free of proppant and channelant and can also be substantially free of other particles.

As a result, the proppant does not completely fill the fracture. Rather, spaced proppant clusters form as pillars with proppant-spacing channelant material initially filling the channels between them, through which, upon subsequent removal of the channelant, formation fluids pass. The volumes of proppant, channelant and carrier sub-stages as pumped can be different. That is, the volume of the channelant and any carrier substages can be larger or smaller than the volume of the proppant and/or any mixed substages. Furthermore, the volumes and order of injection of these substages can change over the duration of the proppant stage. That is, proppant substages pumped early in the treatment can be of a smaller volume then a proppant substage pumped later in the treatment. The relative volume of the substages can be selected by the engineer based on how much of the surface area of the fracture it is desired to be supported by the clusters of proppant, and how much of the fracture area is desired as open channels through which formation fluids are free to flow.

Suitable proppants can include sand, gravel, glass beads, ceramics, bauxites, glass, and the like or combinations thereof. Also other proppants like, plastic beads such as styrene divinylbenzene, and particulate metals may be used. Proppant used in this application may not necessarily require the same permeability properties as typically required in conventional treatments because the overall fracture permeability will at least partially develop from formation of channels. Other proppants may be materials such as drill cuttings that are circulated out of the well. Also, naturally occurring particulate materials may be used as proppants, including, but are not necessarily limited to: ground or crushed shells of nuts such as walnut, coconut, pecan, almond, ivory nut, brazil nut, etc.; ground or crushed seed shells (including fruit pits) of seeds of fruits such as plum, olive, peach, cherry, apricot, etc.; ground or crushed seed shells of other plants such as maize (e.g., corn cobs or corn kernels), etc.; processed wood materials such as those derived from woods such as oak, hickory, walnut, poplar, mahogany, etc., including such woods that have been processed by grinding, chipping, or other form of particalization, processing, etc, some nonlimiting examples of which are proppants made of walnut hulls impregnated and encapsulated with resins. Further information on some of the above-noted compositions thereof may be found in Encyclopedia of Chemical Technology, Edited by Raymond E. Kirk and Donald F. Othmer, Third Edition, John Wiley & Sons, Volume 16, pages 248-273 (entitled “Nuts”), Copyright 1981, which is incorporated herein by reference. Resin coated (various resin and plastic coatings) or encapsulated proppants having a base of any of the previously listed propping materials such as sand, ceramics, bauxite, nut shells, etc. may be used in accordance with the invention. Essentially, the proppant can be any material that will hold open the propped portion of the fracture.

The selection of proppant can balance the factors of proppant long-term strength, proppant distribution characteristics and proppant cost. The proppant can have the ability to flow deeply into the hydraulic fracture and form spaced pillars that resist crushing upon being subjected to the fracture closure stress. Relatively inexpensive, low-strength materials, such as sand, can be used for hydraulic fracturing of formations with small internal stresses. Materials of greater cost, such as ceramics, bauxites and others, can be used in formations with higher internal stresses. Further, the chemical interaction between produced fluids and proppants, which can significantly change the characteristics of the proppant, can be considered.

Because one embodiment may not rely on the porosity or permeability of the packed proppant matrix to impart flow conductivity to the fracture, the availability of the option to select a wider range of proppant materials can be an advantage of the present embodiments. For example, proppant can have any size or range of mixed, variable diameters or other properties that yield a high-density, high-strength pillar, which can form a proppant matrix that has high or low porosity and high or low permeability—proppant porosity and permeability are not so important in an embodiment—because fluid production through the proppant matrix is not required. Also, an adhesive or reinforcing material that would plug a conventional proppant pack can be employed in the interstitial spaces of the proppant matrix herein, such as, for example, a settable or crosslinkable polymer which can be set or crosslinked in the proppant. Thus, a proppant pillar of suitable strength can be successfully created using sand with particles too weak for use in conventional hydraulic fracturing. Sand costs substantially less than ceramic proppant. Additionally, destruction of sand particles during application of the fracture closure load can improve strength behavior of the same cluster consisting of proppant granules. This can occur because the cracking/destruction of proppant particles decreases the cluster porosity thereby compacting the proppant. Sand pumped into the fracture to create proppant clusters does not need good granulometric properties, that is, the narrow particle size or diameter distribution required for a permeable proppant pack in conventional fracturing. For example, in one embodiment, it is possible to use 50 tons of sand, wherein 10 to 15 tons have a diameter of particles from 0.002 to 0.1 mm, 15 to 30 tons have a diameter of particles from 0.2 to 0.6 mm, and 10 to 15 tons have a diameter of particles from 0.005 to 0.05 mm. It should be noted that conventional hydraulic fracturing would require about 100 tons of a proppant more expensive than sand to obtain a similar value of hydraulic conductivity for fluid passage through the continuous-porosity proppant matrix in the propped fracture.

The proppant blend can include elongated proppants. An important parameter for suitable materials for elongated proppant is a suitable material deformability, the ability of a material to deform without breaking (failure) under the action of load. Material deformability may be measured as the degree of deformation in a large number of tests, for example tension, compression, torsion, bending etc. In some cases, the loading force is applied in such a way that uniform deformation is sustained, and the direction of the applied force does not change during the entire process of loading (the geometrically linear case). Also a very important property of the elongated proppant particles is the curvature.

An important effect of using elongated particles is a porosity increase. It is a well-known fact in chemical engineering that in the near wall region of a reactor having a packed bed of spherical particles a wall region having higher conductivity is observed. This region extends into the packed bed about 2-3 particle diameters. Due to this effect, the velocity profile of fluids flowing through the bed is non-uniform and there is a higher flow velocity near the reactor wall. Not to be limited by theory, but it is believed that the elongated particles take advantage of this “wall effect” to improve the permeability and conductivity of proppant, sand, and/or gravel packs by adding non-deformable, elongated (or High Aspect Ratio Particles (HARP)) particles to the packed bed. The elongated particles have the effect of adding additional surface that is, creating additional “walls” in the packed bed. This effect is shown in FIG. 3, in which (a) shows the conventional tortuous flow path 30 of a fluid through packed spheres of conventional proppant particles 16, and (b) shows a region of straight flow 31 of fluid along the interface of an elongated particle 34 and the packed spheres of conventional proppant particles 16. However, for most materials there is an aspect ratio above which an elongated particle may bend. Generally, in the literature the term “fiber” is used for very long materials that can bend extensively without breaking. The term “fiber” may be used for elongated particles suitable for the proppant blends provided that it is understood that suitable particles should not bend or deform substantially or break in use.

Some useful shapes of elongated particles are rods, ovals, plates and disks. The shapes of the elongated particles need not necessarily fit into any of these categories, i.e. the elongated particles may have irregular shapes. While described are elongated particles such as rods or elongated rods, any elongated shape, for example rods, ovals, plates and disks may be useful. The maximum length-based aspect ratio of the individual elongated particles should be less than about 25. In this discussion, when we refer to elongated particles, we intend the term to refer to stiff, non-deformable particles having an aspect ratio of less than about 25. The elongated particles are preferably made from ceramic materials the same as or similar to those used in conventional intermediate and high strength ceramic proppants. However, any material may be used that has the proper physical properties, in particular Young's Modulus. Particularly suitable materials include ceramics such as glass, bauxite ceramic, mullite ceramic, and metals such as aluminum and steels such as carbon steel, stainless steel, and other steel alloys.

Some suitable sizes for the elongated particles are as follows. If the particles can be characterized most straightforwardly as cylinders or fibers (with the understanding that these and other characterizations may be approximations of the shapes and the actual shapes may be irregular), then the “lengths” may range from about 0.1 mm to about 30 mm, and the “diameters” from about 0.1 mm to about 10 mm, preferably from about 0.1 mm to about 3 mm. If the particles can be characterized most straightforwardly as disks or plates, then the “thickness” may range from about 10 microns to about 5000 microns and the “diameter” may range from about 0.5 mm to about 25 mm, or the “length” may range from about 1 mm to about 20 mm and the “width” may range from about 1 mm to about 20 mm. The elongated particles may be used with any natural or synthetic proppant or gravel. For rods (fibers) the ratio of the diameter of the elongated particle to the diameter of the conventional (spherical) proppant may range from about 0.1 to about 20; the preferred ratio ranges from about 0.5 to about 3. For plates or disks, the ratio of the diameter of the conventional proppant to the thickness of the elongated particle may range from about 1 to about 100; the preferred ratio is from about 4 to about 20; the optimal value is about 5. For plates or disks, the ratio of the diameter of the conventional proppant to the thickness of the plate or disk may range from about 1 to about 100; the preferred range is from about 3 to about 20; the optimal is about 5. For plates or disks, the ratio of the length or width of the plate or disk to the diameter of the conventional proppant may range from about 1 to about 50; the preferred range of the ratio is from about 5 to about 10.

The most important feature of the elongated proppants is that they must be stiff, low-elasticity, and low-deformability materials. The Young's Modulus should be between about 0.02 and about 1100 GPa. The dimensionless cross-sectional moment of inertia should be between about 0.1 and 0.425. Particles having a low Young's Modulus will be sufficiently stiff if they have a high enough ratio of dimensionless cross sectional moment of inertia to dimensionless length (for example rods with a large diameter and short length) although they still must have a high enough aspect ratio to produce an increase in permeability due to the wall effect.

An example of some suitable elongated particles is ceramic rods that are composed of at least about 92% alumina, at least about 2% silica, and at least about 1% titanium. The rods have a diameter of about 0.85 to 0.90 mm and a length of about 5-7 mm. They have a Young's Modulus of about 160 GPa, a bending strength of about 300 MPa, a specific gravity of about 3.71 g/cm 3 and a roundness of about 0.9.

Another example is a solid rod-shaped particle prepared by sintering an alumina-containing material, such as, for example, technical grade alumina, bauxite, or any other suitable combination of oxides thereof. The rod-shaped particle may have a solid trunk bounded by two substantially parallel planes. In one embodiment, the two substantially parallel planes may be substantially circular, thereby creating a cylindrical trunk. Other suitable shapes may be also be used as the bounding planes. It is preferable that the bounding plane shapes have a minimum number of angles, such as circles or ovals or other symmetrical or asymmetrical shapes with rounded edges, such as egg curves, because angular particles tend to pack more tightly together and concentrate the pressure on the contact points between the particles because of their sharp edges. This increased pressure can lead to an increased likelihood that the proppants will undesirably break into fine particles. Angular shapes, such as triangles, squares, rectangles, etc., where one or more of the corners is rounded may also be used as the bounding planes without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

The sintered rod is found to exhibit superior hardness and toughness. As known in the art, increased alumina (Al₂O₃) content in the sintered product results in increased hardness and toughness. Sintered rods consistent with one embodiment may have a high alumina content, for example, greater than about 80% alumina by weight. In some embodiments, the alumina content may be increased to greater than about 90% by weight. It may further be preferable that the alumina content be greater than about 92% by weight, with the optimum hardness and toughness being achieved between about 92% and about 96% alumina by weight.

It has also been found that the presence of aluminum titanate (Al₂TiO₅) in the sintered rod results in improved hardness and toughness. The sintered rod may contain between about 0.2% and about 4% aluminum titanate, preferably between about 0.5% and about 3%, and most preferably between about 1% and about 2.5%. In one embodiment, the aluminum titanate is formed during sintering when the pre-sintered material includes a small percentage of TiO₂. The TiO₂ may be contributed by non-bauxitic sources or, preferably, bauxite. In one embodiment, the pre-sintered mixture may comprise by weight between about 0.15% and about 3.5% TiO₂, preferably between about 0.3% and about 2.7% TiO₂, and most preferably between about 0.4% and about 2.3% TiO₂. During the sintering process, which is preferably conducted at a temperature from 1300° C. to 1500° C., the TiO₂ forms a complex with the alumina to form the aluminum titanate phase.

The sintered rod may also be formulated to restrict its SiO₂ content to a specific low level (e.g., less than about 4% by weight, and preferably no more than about 2% by weight). When the level is silica is greater than 4%, silica bridges the alumina crystals during the sintering step and makes the ceramic material more fragile and breakable. By limiting the SiO₂ content of the proppant, the sintered rod formulation ensures optimum strength from a high percentage of alumina (e.g., greater than 92%) reinforced by the formation of aluminum titanate while at the same time minimizing the weakening effects of SiO₂.

Examples of such solid rod-shaped particles are disclosed in patent application numbers US 20080053657, US 20080066910, US 20100087341 and US 20100087342 all incorporated herewith by reference in their entirety.

In one embodiment, the elongated particles may be used without conventional proppant as the only proppant employed. In a second embodiment, the elongated particles may also be mixed with conventional proppant. At least a portion of a fracture may be packed with elongated particles and channelant particles. If the entire fracture is not packed with elongated proppant, then the remaining part of the fracture may be propped with conventional proppant or sand with channelant particles or with a mixture of elongated and conventional proppant with channelant particles. Such a mixture may vary from about 1 to about 99% elongated proppant and may include more than one elongated proppant shape, length, diameter, and aspect ratio. For rods, the range is from about 20% to about 100% by volume for fracturing or from about 50% to about 100%; for plates the range is from about 5% to about 50% by volume for fracturing or from about 5 to about 15%.

Mixtures of different sizes with the same shape as well as mixtures of different shapes and different sizes may be used. Improvements may be obtained from, for example, mixtures of plates and rods, and mixtures of conventional proppants and plates and rods. Mixtures of different shapes may increase flow back properties as well as provide additional conductivity.

One embodiment of the proppant can use sand with an adhesive coating alone, or an adhesive coating coated by a layer of non-adhesive substance dissolvable in the fracture as the fracture treatment fluid or another fluid it passes through the fracture. A non-adhesive substance inhibits the formation of proppant agglomerates prior to entering the fracture, and allows for control of a time moment in the fracture when, corresponding to a place where, a proppant particle gains its adhesive properties. The adhesive coating can be cured at the formation temperature, and sand particles conglutinate between each other. Bonding particles within the pillars can inhibit erosion of the proppant pillar as formation fluids flow past, and minimizes ultimate proppant island destruction by erosion.

In one embodiment, reinforcing and/or consolidating material can be introduced into the fracture fluid to increase the strength of the proppant clusters formed and prevent their collapse during fracture closure. Typically the reinforcement material can be added to the proppant substage and/or the mixed substage, but could also be introduced additionally or alternatively in the channelant substage and/or the carrier substage, or in other ways. For example, the reinforcement material can be a fiber that serves to reinforce the proppant clusters, but can be removed as or with the channelant from the proppant-lean regions. The concentrations of both proppant and the reinforcing materials can vary in time throughout the proppant stage, and from substage to substage. That is, the concentration of proppant reinforcing material can be different at two subsequent substages. It can also be suitable in some applications of the present method to introduce the reinforcing material in a continuous or semi-continuous fashion throughout the proppant stage, during a plurality of adjacent carrier, channelant, mixed and proppant substages. For example, the reinforcing material deposited in the channelant regions in the fracture can be removed with the channelant as described below. In any case, introduction of the reinforcing material need not be limited only to the proppant substage. Particularly, different implementations may be when the concentration of the reinforcing material does not vary during the entire proppant stage; monotonically increases during the proppant stage; or monotonically decreases during the proppant stage.

Curable or partially curable, resin-coated proppant can be used as reinforcing and consolidating material to form proppant clusters. The selection process of the appropriate resin-coated proppant for a particular bottom hole static temperature (BHST), and the particular fracturing fluid are well known to experienced workers. In addition, organic and/or inorganic fibers can reinforce the proppant cluster. These materials can be used in combination with resin-coated proppants or separately. These fibers can have an inherently adhesive surface, can be chemically or physically modified to have an adhesive coating, or can have an adhesive coating resulting from a layer of non-adhesive substance dissolvable in the fracture by a fluid simultaneously or subsequently passed through the fracture. Fibers made of adhesive material can be used as reinforcing material, coated by a non-adhesive substance that dissolves in the fracturing fluid or another fluid as it is passed through the fracture at the subterranean temperatures. Metallic particles are another embodiment for reinforcing material and can be produced using aluminum, steel optionally containing special additives that inhibit corrosion, and other metals and alloys, and the like. The metallic particles can be shaped to resemble a sphere and measure 0.1-4 mm, for example. In one embodiment, metallic particles can have an elongated shape with a length longer than 2 mm and a diameter of 10 to 200 microns. In another embodiment, plates of organic or inorganic substances, ceramics, metals or metal-based alloys can be used as reinforcing material in the proppant. These plates can be disk or rectangle-shaped and of a length and width such that for all materials the ratio between any two of the three dimensions is greater than 5 to 1.

Alternatively, a high permeability and/or high porosity proppant pack can be suitably employed without detriment. In one embodiment, the permeability of the proppant can provide some limited fracture conductivity in the event the channels are not properly formed or do not fully interconnect. Additionally, under some formation conditions it can be advantageous when using the present method to perform a final tail-in stage of the fracturing treatment involving continuous proppant introduction into the fracturing fluid, with the proppant at this stage consisting essentially of uniform particle size to obtain a zone of continuous-porosity proppant adjacent to the wellbore. If employed, the tail-in stage of the fracturing treatment resembles a conventional fracturing treatment, where a continuous bed of well-sorted conventional proppant is placed in the fracture relatively near to the wellbore. The tail-in stage can involve introduction of both an agent that increases the proppant transport capability of the treatment fluid and/or an agent that acts as a reinforcing material. The tail-in stage is distinguished from the second stage by the continuous placement of a well-sorted proppant, that is, a proppant with an essentially uniform particle size. The proppant strength is sufficient to prevent its cracking (crumbling) when subjected to stresses that occur at fracture closure. The role of the proppant at this tail stage is to prevent fracture closure and, therefore, to provide good fracture conductivity in proximity to the wellbore.

The proppants useful in the present method must also be capable of being segregated into proppant-rich islands for heterogeneous placement in the fracture spaced away from adjacent proppant islands. Properties such as density, size, shape, magnetic characteristics, surface characteristics, for example, hydroaffinity and reactivity, and chemical or mechanical interaction with the channelant, and the like, can all influence the segregability of the proppant. Therefore, these characteristics can be selected to facilitate segregation from the channelant-rich regions depending on the manner in which segregation is effected, downhole conditions, the channelant, the treatment fluid, etc.

In an embodiment, the proppant can have a self-adherent surface, for example, by using a proppant that has a natural attraction for or a tendency to agglomerate with or adhere to other proppant particles, and/or by coating or chemically modifying the surface of the proppant for self-adhesion, e.g. by coating the proppant with an adhesive or tackifier, or grafting an adhesive or tackifying compound to the proppant. Preferably, the self-adherent proppant is non-adherent to the channelant and other surfaces such as the surface piping, pumps and wellbore tubing. In one version of the self-adherent proppant, the proppant is loosely held together in cohesive slugs or globules of a gel or lightly crosslinked, flowable polymer for which the proppant has a differential affinity, e.g. the proppant can be grafted to the gel-forming polymer.

In one embodiment, the proppant can be hydrophilic, for example, by using a proppant that is normally hydrophilic, such as most sand, for example, and/or by treating the proppant particles with ionic or polar modifiers such as a strong acid, weak acid, strong base, weak base, or reacting the surface of the proppant to associate an ionic or polar moiety with an affinity to aqueous liquids. In this manner, the proppant can be differentially attracted to other hydrophilic species in the treatment fluid, e.g. other proppant particles or an immiscible fluid phase in the treatment fluid, such as an aqueous phase, especially where the channelant is hydrophobic and/or introduced via an immiscible hydrophobic fluid phase in the treatment fluid.

In another embodiment, the proppant can be rendered hydrophobic, for example, by using proppant that is normally hydrophobic, such as wax, for example, and/or by treating the proppant particles with an oil, wax or other hydrocarbon, or reacting the surface of the proppant to associate a hydrocarbyl moiety with a low affinity to aqueous liquids. In this manner, the proppant can be differentially attracted to other hydrophobic species in the treatment fluid, e.g. other proppant particles or an immiscible fluid phase in the treatment fluid, such as an oil or other non-aqueous phase, especially where the channelant is hydrophilic and/or introduced via an immiscible hydrophilic fluid phase in the treatment fluid.

In one embodiment the proppant can be present in the treatment fluid that is injected into the fracture in the form of an immiscible fluid packet or globule dispersed in a more or less continuous phase of a second fluid carrying the channelant. The immiscible fluid proppant packets can each contain sufficient proppant to form a suitably sized island, singly from isolated packet placement or in combination with one or more additional proppant packets where cumulative packet placement can occur. Because the open channels to be formed must interconnect between the wellbore and the remote exposed surfaces in the fracture, it can be convenient to provide the channelant in a continuous phase in the treatment fluid in which the proppant packets are a dispersed or discontinuous phase. In one version, the proppant packets can be provided with a thin encapsulating skin or deformable bladder to retain the proppant and remain flowable during injection, and the bladder can be optionally ruptured or chemically or thermally removed during placement in the fracture and/or during closure of the fracture.

The choice of channelant can depend on the mode of channelant segregation and placement in the fracture, as well as the mode of channelant removal and channel formation. In its simplest form, the channelant can be a solid particulate that can be maintained in its solid form during injection and fracture closure, and readily dissolved or degraded for removal. Materials that can be used can be organic, inorganic, glass, ceramic, nylon, carbon, metallic, and so on. Suitable materials can include water- or hydrocarbon-soluble solids such as, for example, salt, calcium carbonate, wax, or the like. Polymers can be used in another embodiment, including polymers such as, polylactic acid (PLA), polyglycolic acid (PGA), polyol, polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polysaccharide, wax, salt, calcium carbonate, benzoic acid, naphthalene based materials, magnesium oxide, sodium bicarbonate, soluble resins, sodium chloride, calcium chloride, ammonium sulfate, and the like, and so on, or any combinations thereof. As used herein, “polymers” includes both homopolymers and copolymers of the indicated monomer with one or more comonomers, including graft, block and random copolymers. The polymers can be linear, branched, star, crosslinked, derivitized, and so on, as desired. The channelant can be selected to have a size and shape similar or dissimilar to the size and shape of the proppant particles as needed to facilitate segregation from the proppant. Channelant particle shapes can include, for example, spheres, rods, platelets, ribbons, and the like and combinations thereof. In some applications, bundles of fibers, or fibrous or deformable materials, can be used. These fibers can additionally or alternatively form a three-dimensional network, reinforcing the proppant and limiting its flowback.

For example, the separation of injected proppant blend and channelant as introduced and placed in the fracture can be induced by differences (or similarities) in size, density or shape of the two materials. The specific gravities and the volume concentrations of proppant blend and channelant can be tailored to minimize mixing and homogenization during placement. Properly sizing the channelant or adding various weighting agents to the channelant-rich fluid can facilitate segregation at the appropriate time and location.

Either the proppant or the proppant-spacing particles can also be made to be “sticky”, so particles of similar material adhere to one another, helping ensure heterogeneity between the two dissimilar materials. Proppant particles can be selected that adhere to other proppant particles as discussed above and to be repelled by or repel the channelant particles. Alternatively, or additionally, channelant particles can be selected that are self-adherent and non-adherent to the proppant. The channelant can, for example, include a self-adherent coating. Another technique to encourage separation of the two materials is selecting proppant and channelant with inherent hydroaffinity differences, or creating surface hydroaffinity differences by treating either the proppant or the channelant with hydrophobic or hydrophilic coatings.

The presence of the channelant in the fracturing fluid in the proppant stage, e.g. in a mixed substage or in a segregated channelant substage, can have the benefit of increasing the proppant transport capability. In other words, the channelant can reduce the settling rate of proppant in the fracture treatment fluid. The channelant can in an embodiment be a material with elongated particles having a length that much exceeds a diameter. This material can affect the rheological properties and suppress convection in the fluid, which can result in a decrease of the proppant settling rate in the fracture fluid and maintain segregation of the proppant from proppant lean regions. The channelant can be capable of decomposing in the water-based fracturing fluid or in the downhole fluid, such as fibers made on the basis of polylactic acid (PLA), polyglycolic acid (PGA), polyvinyl alcohol (PVOH), and others. The fibers can be made of or coated by a material that becomes adhesive at subterranean formation temperatures. They can be made of adhesive material coated by a non-adhesive substance that dissolves in the fracturing fluid or another fluid as it is passed through the fracture. The fibers used in one embodiment can be up to 2 mm long with a diameter of 10-200 microns, in accordance with the main condition that the ratio between any two of the three dimensions be greater than 5 to 1. In another embodiment, the fibers can have a length greater than 1 mm, such as, for example, 1-30 mm, 2-25 mm or 3-18 mm, e.g. about 6 mm; and they can have a diameter of 5-100 microns and/or a denier of about 0.1-20, preferably about 0.15-6. These fibers are desired to facilitate proppant carrying capability of the treatment fluid with reduced levels of fluid viscosifying polymers or surfactants. Fiber cross-sections need not be circular and fibers need not be straight. If fibrillated fibers are used, the diameters of the individual fibrils can be much smaller than the aforementioned fiber diameters.

The concentration of the channelant in the treatment fluid can conveniently be such that the channelant compressed between the proppant islands by fracture closure has a packed volume to fill the spaces between the packed proppant islands with similar stress in both the proppant and channelant. In other words, the channelant fill serves to hold the proppant islands in place and inhibit lateral expansion that would otherwise reduce the ultimate height of the proppant pillar. The weight concentration of the fibrous channelant material in the fracturing fluid can be from 0.1 to 10 percent in one embodiment. The concentration of the solid channelant material in the treatment fluid in another embodiment is typically from about 0.6 g/L (about 5 ppt) to about 9.6 g/L (about 80 ppt).

In an embodiment, a first type of fiber additive can provide reinforcement and consolidation of the proppant. This fiber type can include, for example, glass, ceramics, carbon and carbon-based compounds, metals and metallic alloys, and the like and combinations thereof, as a material that is packed in the proppant to strengthen the proppant pillars. In other applications, a second type of fiber can be used that inhibits settling of the proppant in the treatment fluid. The second fiber type can include, for example, polylactic acid, polyglycolic acid, polyethylterephthalate (PET), polyol, and the like and combinations thereof, as a material that inhibits settling or dispersion of the proppant in the treatment fluid and serves as a primary removable fill material in the spaces between the pillars. Yet other applications include a mixture of the first and second fiber types, the first fiber type providing reinforcement and consolidation of the proppant and the second fiber type inhibiting settling of the proppant in the treatment fluid.

The fibers can be hydrophilic or hydrophobic in nature. Hydrophilic fibers are preferred in one embodiment. Fibers can be any fibrous material, such as, but not necessarily limited to, natural organic fibers, comminuted plant materials, synthetic polymer fibers (by non-limiting example polyester, polyaramide, polyamide, novoloid or a novoloid-type polymer), fibrillated synthetic organic fibers, ceramic fibers, inorganic fibers, metal fibers, metal filaments, carbon fibers, glass fibers, ceramic fibers, natural polymer fibers, and any mixtures thereof. Particularly useful fibers are polyester fibers coated to be highly hydrophilic, such as, but not limited to, DACRON® polyethylene terephthalate (PET) Fibers available from Invista Corp. Wichita, Kan., USA, 67220. Other examples of useful fibers include, but are not limited to, polylactic acid polyester fibers, polyglycolic acid polyester fibers, polyvinyl alcohol fibers, and the like.

In an embodiment, the solid channelant material is selected from substituted and unsubstituted lactide, glycolide, polylactic acid, polyglycolic acid, copolymers of polylactic acid and polyglycolic acid, copolymers of glycolic acid with other hydroxy-, carboxylic acid-, or hydroxycarboxylic acid-containing moieties, copolymers of lactic acid with other hydroxy-, carboxylic acid-, or hydroxycarboxylic acid-containing moieties, and mixtures of such materials. Preferred examples are polyglycolic acid or PGA, and polylactic acid or PLA. These materials function as solid-acid precursors, and upon dissolution in the fracture, can form acid species which can have secondary functions in the fracture.

If desired, a pH control agent can be used in the treatment fluid, especially where a solid acid precursor is present and one or more of the other treatment fluids is pH-sensitive. The pH control agent can be selected from amines and alkaline earth, ammonium and alkali metal salts of sesquicarbonates, carbonates, oxalates, hydroxides, oxides, bicarbonates, and organic carboxylates, for example sodium sesquicarbonate, triethanolamine, or tetraethylenepentamine.

For example, the channelant can function as an acid breaker for a viscosifying agent, where the channelant is selected from a solid that contains an acid and that hydrolyzes to release an acid, a solid that hydrolyzes to release an acid, and mixtures of such materials. The solid can be present in particles sufficiently small that they at least partially enter pores of the formation, and/or sufficiently large that they remain in the fracture in the spaces between the proppant pillars. The treatment fluid can also contain a pH control agent present in an amount sufficient to neutralize any acid present in the solid material before the injection and to neutralize any acid generated by the solid material during the injection, so that the acid breaker is not available to break the fluid during the injection. When the injection is stopped, the solid is allowed to release acid in excess of the amount that can be neutralized by any pH control agent, thereby breaking the viscous fluid. Optionally, the viscosifying agent in this embodiment is a viscoelastic surfactant system. Optionally, the solid material is of a size that forms an internal filter cake in the pores of the formation. Optionally, the solid material is of a size that does not block the flow of fluid in the pores of the formation. The solid material is selected from substituted and unsubstituted lactide, glycolide, polylactic acid, polyglycolic acid, copolymers of polylactic acid and polyglycolic acid, copolymers of glycolic acid with other hydroxy-, carboxylic acid-, or hydroxycarboxylic acid-containing moieties, copolymers of lactic acid with other hydroxy-, carboxylic acid-, or hydroxycarboxylic acid-containing moieties, and mixtures of such materials. One example is polyglycolic acid. The pH control agent is selected from amines and alkaline earth, ammonium and alkali metal salts of sesquicarbonates, carbonates, oxalates, hydroxides, oxides, bicarbonates, and organic carboxylates, for example sodium sesquicarbonate, triethanolamine, or tetraethylenepentamine.

Suitable solid acids for use in viscoelastic surfactant (VES) fluid systems include substituted and unsubstituted lactide, glycolide, polylactic acid, polyglycolic acid, a copolymer of polylactic acid and polyglycolic acid, a copolymer of glycolic acid with other hydroxy-, carboxylic acid-, or hydroxycarboxylic acid-containing moieties, a copolymer of lactic acid with other hydroxy-, carboxylic acid or hydroxycarboxylic acid-containing moieties, or mixtures of the preceding. Other materials suitable for use in VES fluid systems are all those polymers of hydroxyacetic acid (glycolic acid) with itself or other hydroxy-, carboxylic acid-, or hydroxycarboxylic acid-containing moieties described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,848,467; 4,957,165; and 4,986,355, all three hereby incorporated by reference. Suitable solid acids are also described in U.S. Patent Application Publication Nos. 2003/002195 and 2004/0152601, both of which are hereby incorporated by reference and are assigned to the assignee of the present application.

Excellent solid acid components for VES systems are solid cyclic dimers, or solid polymers, of certain organic acids, that hydrolyze under known and controllable conditions of temperature, time and pH to form organic acids. One example, a suitable solid acid is the solid cyclic dimer of lactic acid known as “lactide”, which has a melting point of 95 to 125° C. depending upon the optical activity. Another is a polymer of lactic acid, sometimes called a polylactic acid or “PLA”, or a polylactate, or a polylactide. Another example is the solid cyclic dimer of gylycolic acid known as “glycolide”, which has a melting point of about 86° C. Yet another example is a polymer of glycolic acid (hydroxyacetic acid), also known as polyglycolic acid (“PGA”), or polyglycolide. Another example is a copolymer of lactic acid and glycolic acid. These polymers and copolymers are polyesters. The as-received materials can contain some free acid and some solvent, typically water.

Natureworks L.L.C., Minnetonka, Minn., USA, produces the solid cyclic lactic acid dimer called “lactide” and from it produces lactic acid polymers, or polylactates, with varying molecular weights and degrees of crystallinity, under the generic trade name NATUREWORKS™ PLA. The PLA's currently available from Cargill Dow have molecular weights of up to about 100,000, although any polylactide (made by any process by any manufacturer) and any molecular weight material of any degree of crystallinity can be used in the embodiments of the Invention. The PLA polymers are solids at room temperature and are hydrolyzed by water to form lactic acid. Those available from Cargill Dow typically have crystalline melt temperatures of from about 120 to about 170° C., but others are obtainable. Poly(d,l-lactide) is available from Bio-Invigor, Beijing and Taiwan, with molecular weights of up to 500,000. Bio-Invigor also supplies polyglycolic acid (also known as polyglycolide) and various copolymers of lactic acid and glycolic acid, often called “polyglactin” or poly(lactide-co-glycolide). The rates of the hydrolysis reactions of all these materials are governed, among other factors, by the molecular weight, the crystallinity (the ratio of crystalline to amorphous material), the physical form (size and shape of the solid), and in the case of polylactide, the amounts of the two optical isomers. (The naturally occurring 1-lactide forms partially crystalline polymers; synthetic dl-lactide forms amorphous polymers.) Amorphous regions are more susceptible to hydrolysis than crystalline regions. Lower molecular weight, less crystallinity and greater surface-to-mass ratio all result in faster hydrolysis. Hydrolysis is accelerated by increasing the temperature, by adding acid or base, or by adding a material that reacts with the hydrolysis product(s).

Homopolymers of PGA and PLA can be more crystalline; copolymers tend to be amorphous unless they are block copolymers. The extent of the crystallinity can be controlled by the manufacturing method for homopolymers and by the manufacturing method and the ratio and distribution of lactide and glycolide for the copolymers. Polyglycolide can be made in a porous form. Some of the polymers dissolve very slowly in water before they hydrolyze; it is to be understood that the terms hydrolyze or hydrolysis, etc., are intended to include dissolution.

The solid acids can be coated to slow the hydrolysis. Suitable coatings include polycaprolate (a copolymer of glycolide and epsilon-caprolactone), and calcium stearate, both of which are hydrophobic. Polycaprolate itself slowly hydrolyzes. Generating a hydrophobic layer on the surface of the solid acids by any means can facilitate segregation from hydrophilic proppant and can delay the hydrolysis for injection and fracture. Note that coating here can refer to encapsulation or simply to changing the surface by chemical reaction or by forming or adding a thin film of another material. Another suitable method of delaying the hydrolysis of the solid acid, and the release of acid, is to suspend the solid acid, optionally with a hydrophobic coating, in an oil or in the oil phase of an emulsion. The hydrolysis and acid release do not occur until water contacts the solid acid.

The VES self-destructs in situ, that is, in the location where it is placed. That location can be part of a suspension in a treatment fluid in the wellbore, in perforations, in a gravel pack, or in a fracture; or as a component of a filter cake on the walls of a wellbore or of a fracture; or in the pores of a formation itself. The VES can be used in formations of any lithology but are used most commonly in carbonates or sandstones.

A particular advantage of these materials is that the solid acid precursors and the generated acids are non-toxic and are biodegradable. The solid acids are often used as self-dissolving sutures in medical practice, for example.

A polyol is a polyhydric alcohol, i.e., one containing three or more hydroxyl groups. One embodiment of a polyol useful as a channelant is a polymeric polyol solubilizable upon heating, desalination or a combination thereof, and which consists essentially of hydroxyl-substituted carbon atoms, in a polymer chain, spaced from adjacent hydroxyl-substituted carbon atoms by at least one carbon atom in the polymer chain. In other words, the useful polyols are preferably essentially free of adjacent hydroxyl substituents. In one embodiment, the polyol has a weight average molecular weight greater than 5000 up to 500,000 or more, and from 10,000 to 200,000 in another embodiment. The polyol can if desired be hydrophobically modified to further inhibit or delay solubilization, e.g. by including hydrocarbyl substituents such as alkyl, aryl, alkaryl or aralkyl moieties and/or side chains having from 2 to 30 carbon atoms. The polyol can also be modified to include carboxylic acid, thiol, paraffin, silane, sulfuric acid, acetoacetylate, polyethylene oxide, or quaternary amine or other cationic monomers. Such modifications have several affects on the properties of the polyol; affects on solubility, sensitivity to salinity, pH, and crosslinking functionalities (e.g. hydroxyl groups and silanol groups which are chelates that can crosslink with common crosslinkers) are of most interest to the present invention. All of said modifications are commercially available products.

In one embodiment, the polyol is a substituted or unsubstituted polyvinyl alcohol that can be prepared by at least partial hydrolysis of a precursor polyvinyl compound having ester substituents, such as, for example, polyvinyl acetate, polyvinyl propanoate, polyvinyl butanoate, polyvinyl pentanoate, polyvinyl hexanoate, polyvinyl 2-methyl butanoate, polyvinyl 3-ethylpentanoate, polyvinyl 3-ethylhexanoate, and the like, and combinations thereof. When the polyol comprises polyvinyl alcohol prepared by at least partial hydrolysis of polyvinyl acetate, the polyol is not generally soluble in salt water, as discussed in more detail below, and further, the polyol is commercially available in the form of partially crystalline fibers that have a relatively sharp trigger temperature below which the fibers are not soluble in water and above which they readily dissolve.

The methods described herewith may be used in a well where at least part of the well is horizontal. In one embodiment, when elongated particles are mixed with conventional proppant in the particulate blend, not be bound by a theory it is believed stability of the proppant clusters forming pillars will be improved. Interaction of the elongated particles, optionally with the fibers, with the conventional proppant allow better fluid flow through the pillars and channelant.

The foregoing disclosure and description of the invention is illustrative and explanatory thereof and it can be readily appreciated by those skilled in the art that various changes in the size, shape and materials, as well as in the details of the illustrated construction or combinations of the elements described herein can be made without departing from the spirit of the invention. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of placing a proppant pack into a fracture formed in a subterranean formation, the method comprising: injecting well treatment fluid comprising proppant and channelant through a wellbore into a fracture in a subterranean formation, wherein the proppant comprises from 1 to 100 percent in weight of stiff, low-elasticity and low-deformability elongated particles; placing the proppant in the fracture in a plurality of proppant clusters forming pillars spaced apart by the channelant; and, removing the channelant to form open channels around the pillars for fluid flow from the formation through the fracture toward the wellbore.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the elongated particles have a maximal cross-sectional dimension, h1, and a minimal cross-sectional dimension, h2, of from 0.1 to 10 mm; a length, L, of from 0.1 to 20 mm; for 1D particles, a ratio L/h1 from 1.2 to 10 and a ratio h2/h1 from 0.8 to 1; for 2D particles, a ratio L/h1 from 1 to 1.19 and a ratio h2/h1 from 0.1 to 0.79; a curvature, χ, of from 0 to 2/h2 in units of 1/mm; for 1D particles, a stiffness, k, of from 0 to 4.90*10⁸ in units of N*mm²; and for cylindrical particles, a stiffness, k, of from 0 to 10⁸ N*mm²; a range of a particle unevenness d0 (or d1) is from 0 to 0.5*h1 in units of mm.
 3. The method of claim 2, wherein the elongated particles comprise a mixture of elongated particles differing from one another in at least one parameter selected from the group consisting of length, a cross-sectional dimension, density, curvature, and stiffness.
 4. The method of claim 1 wherein the channelant comprises solid particles.
 5. The method of claim 4 comprising segregating the proppant and channelant during injection of the well treatment fluid.
 6. The method of claim 4 wherein the channelant particles are maintained in a solid state within the fracture.
 7. The method of claim 1 wherein the injection comprises: injecting a proppant-lean carrier stage to initiate the fracture; and thereafter injecting into the fracture proppant and channelant.
 8. The method of claim 1, wherein the injection further comprises injecting a tail-in stage to form a permeable proppant pack in the fracture between the open channels and the wellbore.
 9. The method of claim 1 wherein the treatment fluid comprises mixed phases including a proppant-rich phase with elongated particles from 1 to 100 percent in weight and a channelant-rich phase.
 10. The method of claim 1 wherein the treatment fluid comprises alternating volumes of proppant-rich fluid with elongated particles from 1 to 100 percent in weight separated by volumes containing the channelant.
 11. The method of claim 1 wherein the treatment fluid comprises alternating volumes of proppant-rich fluid without elongated particles separated by volumes containing the channelant.
 12. The method of claim 1 wherein the treatment fluid comprises a mixture of the proppant with elongated particles from 1 to 100 percent in weight and channelant, further comprising segregating the proppant and channelant for the fracture placement.
 13. The method of claim 1 wherein the channelant comprises a solid acid-precursor to generate acid in the fracture.
 14. The method of claim 13 wherein the generated acid etches surfaces of the formation to enlarge the open channels.
 15. The method of claim 1 wherein the channelant particles are selected from the group consisting of polylactic acid (PLA), polyglycolic acid (PGA), polyol, salt, polysaccharide, wax, calcium carbonate, benzoic acid, naphthalene based materials, magnesium oxide, sodium bicarbonate, soluble resins, polyvinyl alcohol (PVOH) and combinations thereof.
 16. The method of claim 1 wherein the channelant comprises a fluoride source.
 17. The method of claim 1, further comprising producing fluids from the formation through the open channels and the wellbore.
 18. The method of claim 1, wherein the treatment fluid further comprises fibers.
 19. The method of claim 18 wherein the fibers are selected from the group consisting of glass, ceramics, carbon and carbon-based compounds, metals and metallic alloys, polylactic acid, polyglycolic acid, polyethylene terephthalate, polyol and combinations thereof.
 20. The method of claim 18 wherein the fibers comprise a mixture of first and second fiber types, the first fiber type providing reinforcement and consolidation of the proppant and the second fiber type inhibiting settling of the proppant in the treatment fluid.
 21. The method of claim 20 wherein the first fiber type is selected from the group consisting of glass, ceramics, carbon and carbon-based compounds, metals and metallic alloys, and combinations thereof, and the second fiber type is selected from the group consisting of polylactic acid, polyglycolic acid, polyethylterephthalate (PET), polyol and combinations thereof.
 22. The method of claim 18 wherein the fibers comprise a thermoplastic coating able to interact with at least part of the proppant to provide reinforcement and consolidation of the proppant or to inhibit settling of the proppant or to retard movement of the proppant within the subterranean formation.
 23. The method of claim 1, wherein the subterranean formation comprises at least in part shale rock.
 24. A method of placing a proppant pack into a fracture formed in a subterranean formation, the method comprising: injecting well treatment fluid comprising elastic and deformable material, proppant and channelant through a wellbore into a fracture in a subterranean formation, wherein the proppant comprises from 1 to 100 percent in weight of stiff, low-elasticity and low-deformability elongated particles; placing the proppant in the fracture in a plurality of proppant clusters forming pillars spaced apart by the channelant; and, removing the channelant to form open channels around the pillars for fluid flow from the formation through the fracture toward the wellbore.
 25. The method of claim 24, wherein the elongated particles have a maximal cross-sectional dimension, h1, and a minimal cross-sectional dimension, h2, of from 0.1 to 10 mm; a length, L, of from 0.1 to 20 mm; for 1D particles, a ratio L/h1 from 1.2 to 10 and a ratio h2/h1 from 0.8 to 1; for 2D particles, a ratio L/h1 from 1 to 1.19 and a ratio h2/h1 from 0.1 to 0.79; a curvature, χ, of from 0 to 2/h2 in units of 1/mm; for 1D particles, a stiffness, k, of from 0 to 4.90*10⁸ in units of N*mm²; and for cylindrical particles, a stiffness, k, of from 0 to 10⁸ N*mm²; a range of a particle unevenness d0 (or d1) is from 0 to 0.5*h1 in units of mm.
 26. The method of claim 25, wherein the elongated particles comprise a mixture of elongated particles differing from one another in at least one parameter selected from the group consisting of length, a cross-sectional dimension, density, curvature, and stiffness.
 27. The method of claim 24, wherein the deformable and elastic material is rod, oval, plate, disk, sphere, platelet, particle, fiber or ribbon.
 28. The method of claim 24, wherein the deformable and elastic material is a thermoplastic polymer.
 29. The method of claim 28, wherein the deformable and elastic material is a coating on another material not necessarily made of deformable and elastic material.
 30. The method of claim 28, wherein the thermoplastic polymer comprises at least one member selected from the group of polyolefins, polyamides, polyvinyls, polyimides, polyurethanes, polysulfones, polycarbonates, polyesters and cellulose derivatives.
 31. The method of claim 24, wherein the deformable and elastic material is able to interact with at least part of the proppant to provide reinforcement and consolidation of the proppant or to inhibit settling of the proppant or to retard movement of the proppant within the subterranean formation.
 32. A method of placing a proppant pack into a fracture formed in a subterranean formation, the method comprising: injecting well treatment fluid comprising proppant and channelant through a wellbore into a fracture in a subterranean formation, wherein the proppant comprises from 1 to 100 percent in weight of stiff, low-elasticity and low-deformability particles having a shape with a length basis aspect ratio greater than 5; placing the proppant in the fracture in a plurality of proppant clusters forming pillars spaced apart by the channelant; and, removing the channelant to form open channels around the pillars for fluid flow from the formation through the fracture toward the wellbore.
 33. The method of claim 1, wherein the subterranean formation comprises at least in part shale rock.
 34. The method of claim 1, wherein the treatment is done in a well and at least a part of the well is horizontal.
 35. A method of placing a proppant pack into a fracture formed in a subterranean formation of a well, wherein the subterranean formation comprises at least in part shale rock and wherein at least a part of the well is horizontal, the method comprising: injecting well treatment fluid comprising proppant and channelant through a wellbore into a fracture in a subterranean formation, wherein the proppant comprises from 1 to 100 percent in weight of stiff, low-elasticity and low-deformability elongated particles; placing the proppant in the fracture in a plurality of proppant clusters forming pillars spaced apart by the channelant; and, removing the channelant to form open channels around the pillars for fluid flow from the formation through the fracture toward the wellbore. 